OK. So, I made the wrappers too thick. This makes sense…not only did they taste not quite right, nor did they feel wuite right in the mouth, the quantity of dumplings was off. Katie’s recipe says enough for 200. I halved the recipe including the wrapper dough. Using half the dough recipe, I ended up with almost 30 dumplings as opposed to something closer to 100 as one might expect if the recipe is right.
Today, I used the last of the filling that I had left. I did not alter it to test to see if the wrapper thickness would affect the broth content of the dumplings. I made a wrapper dough batch using just 1 cup of flour or one-sixth the recipe. One might expect that this would yield 33 dumplings. I ended up with 20, so definitely more then last time given the quantity, but still not on track to make 200 with a full recipe. Nonetheless, I made much thinner wrappers, although a few were too large, so I probably could have been more careful and ended up with 25. Even at 20, that’s twice as many as before.
So, after all this math, were they better? Turns out, yes they were much better. The dumplings were not pouring out broth like the ones I had in Shanghai, but they were clearly “wet” inside, and I could see a little broth pooling in the spoon as I bit them open.
Next time, I’ll try increasing the aspic to meat ratio, and working on even thinner wrappers. Like some comments I read on a blog Katie referenced, I may need to pull out my pasta maker and use it to roll the dough even thinner…but I’d rather not have to resort to that if possible. Maybe brute force (ie just add more aspic) will do the trick.
So, before day 2 had even arrived, I checked in on the broth/aspic after returning from Thanksgiving dinner. It was clear that the broth and aspic were not forming into a gelatin. So, I took a ladle full of the broth, heated it in the microwave and stirred in another teaspoon of agar agar powder. At the time, I realized that I had been halving the recipe all along, but I hadn’t halved the broth. That is, the recipe calls for 3 cups of broth, and I had 3 cups (actually 6 – but in two 3 cup containers) of broth. So, adding a second teaspoon made sense. I mixed this back into the rest of the broth and returned it to the refrigerator.
Aspic cubed and added to the meat
Woke up the next day, and found that the broth was still liquid. In fact, I could barely tell the difference between the broth with the agar agar and the other 3 cup container that I had not added any agar agar to…so, I decided I’d add yet another teaspoon. This time, I took all the broth and heated it on the stove until it was just boiling, then turned off the heat. I took a ladle full, and added another teaspoon, then incorporated this back into the broth. I also noted that the recipe called for a glass container, so I transfered the broth to a glass bowl.
I’m guess it was something to do with the fact that when I added the second teaspoon of agar agar powder, I did not heat the broth completely when I added it, and not the glass container, but with 3 teaspoons of agar agar powder, heat and a glass container, the final outcome was a very solid gelatin — a lot more solid then I had imagined was necessary, and I suspect more then is desired. Nonetheless, I had aspic, and I was ready to use it now.
I chopped up about half of it until I had a cup and a half to add to the filling I made the day before. I mixed it together before starting on the dough for the wrappers. I strayed a bit from the directions here and used my Cuisinart rather then a spoon and my hands to mix and knead the dough. Once I had the dough, I started to make the dumplings.
Xiǎolóngbāo
I was surprised that I managed to create dumplings that look generally right. Initially, they were bigger then they ought to be. I started rolling out smaller, thinner pieces of the dough into rounds. In hindsight, I’d say that even the smallest thinnest ones I made could have been a tiny bit smaller, and definitely thinner. Overall, I was pleased with my pleating efforts, and at least the dumplings visually looked right. So, all that remained at this stage was to steam them and eat them.
***
Xiǎolóngbāo
Turns out, my suspicion was correct…the dough was too thick, and it made for a less then delicate dumpling. Not bad, but not what I wanted. Further, I suspect that the dumplings were surprisingly dry and lacking any broth because the dough soaked up any liquid it could find.
All told, the dumplings looked pretty good, but they didn’t taste as I had hoped. However, I still have some meat filling left, and I’ll make another go at thinner wrappers!
I’ve been back for a week now, but my internal clock is still set to the Far East. That means too much time up in the middle of the night…which means I also get hungry at weird hours. This leads to cravings for things I can’t have…like Xiǎolóngbāo. So, yesterday I decided to attempt to make some. I picked up the necessary ingredients at the asian market, and this morning at 4 am, I started.
I’m using a recipe I found online at Katie’s Kitchensidecar blog. So, here’s a recap of the start of the process…
Broth simmering on the stove
The Broth Aspic
Katie’s recipe calls for 2 pigs feet to make the broth. I didn’t find pigs feet at the grocery store, but I did find Ham Hocks. Close enough I figure. I set up a stock pot with the necessary ingredients, and let it simmer for a few hours. Not really knowing what it ought to taste like, all I can say is that the broth was tasty, and will hopefully firm up now that I’ve added the agar agar powder.
Green onion and ginger juice
The Juice
I waited on the juice until about 6 am this morning once everyone else was awake. Running a blender isn’t conducive to sleeping, and I didn’t want to wake everyone up! Interestingly, the juice came out as expected, but Katie doesn’t really make any mention about what to do with the solids leftover once you strain the mixture. Since its really just ground up green onion and ginger, I saved it, and I think I’ll try making some sort of dipping sauce later. I guess that’s a whole other post.
Meat filling with the Juice
The Filling
I was surprised, as the recipe notes, that the ground pork can consume so much of the juice, but it did take every drop! I’ve mixed this up with everything except the aspic since that’s still settling into gelatinous form. I figure it never hurts to let the meat marinate overnight.
The Dough
I’ll work on that tomorrow when the aspic is ready to be incorporated into the filling. The larger challenge that I foresee is the folding of the actual dumplings. I’ve watched as many of the youtube videos that I can to watch, but I’m still not confident that I’ll be able to get the dumplings pleated neatly like the traditional dumplings. More on that tomorrow when I get that far!
OK…so I’m settled in to the hotel, and I haven’t eaten since this morning in the airport. After all, it’s all about the food, right? So, I remember years ago as a kid eating “Shao-Lum-bao” at my cousins’ home in Long Island. At the time, these were small chinese dumplings that we steamed ourselves right from the freezer. They were good, but until I began preparations (ie researching food) for Shanghai, I hadn’t realized that these were something special to Shanghai…and that what I had eaten from the freezer were nothing compared to the real deal.
Xiaolongbao
I found a variety of articles on the web and even one in the airline magazine when we flew to Cupertino the other week. But, the reality of a big city (and I mean big) where taxi driver’s do not speak English, I didn’t really attempt to find the same places as the articles…especially since many of them didn’t really spell it out where to go,…just the such and such place near the corner of such and such.
I made my way to the Yuyuan Garden figuring I could do some shopping, sightseeing and eating all at once. Turned out I was right. I did find a dumpling restaurant that, by descriptions I’d read online, may have been one of the places detailed as it was multiple stories, and at the ground level, there was a long line of people standing and waiting to get some Xiǎolóngbāo. However, as noted in the some articles, just go upstairs, and find a table. I did just that, and found a table without waiting. I think it was more expensive upstairs, but by US standards, everything was cheap.Ordered the dumplings along with another recommendation which was a good choice. It was like a large dumpling about the size of baseball with a straw. Inside was a crab soup. Don’t forget kids…never drink soup through a straw…well, I did anyway, but did so very carefully so I wouldn’t burn my mouth!
Soup with a straw!
So what is the deal with Xiaolongbao? These appear to be simple dumplings, but what makes them different is that they have not only a meat filling, but broth. Apparently, reading up on these tasty things before I got here, someone figured out how to mix in broth in gelatin form into the meat mixture. So, when cooked, the broth is released inside the dumpling. Biting into one and you get a juicy, moist dumpling not at all like what you might be used to. They really were very good, and I’m not sure I’ll every figure out how to do it, but it gives me something to aspire to!
These two things along with a few other tidbits that they insisted I eat…clearly when a non-Chinese speaking person shows up…these waitresses understand the upsell…but I had no problems since the menu had no photos and no English…of course, I sometimes wonder if they have other menus for people that they more quickly figure out speak no Chinese? Anyway a very filling lunch for less then $10 USD.
